As they wait for the real TV season to arrive, viewers will need patience – three months of it.
CBS has already announced that its post-strike shows will finally reach the air shortly after Feb. 11, when the Super Bowl airs. Now ABC says many of its returns will be even later.
“Grey’s Anatomy” (shown here in the Meredith farewell episode) won’t start until March; the same is true of its spin-off, “Station 19,” and of “9-1-1,” which is moving from Fox.
ABC will have a couple nights ready before CBS does. Mondays (“The Bachelor” and a true-crime series) will start Jan. 22; Wednesdays (comedies) will be Feb. 7.
But the others will come later — Sundays (“American Idol”), Feb. 18; Tuesdays (dramas), Feb. 20; Thursdays, (“Grey’s Anatomy”), March 14.
That still leaves two nights. Fridays generally have “Shark Tank” and “20/20”; Saturdays often have sports or reruns, but there’s always the option of moving “World of Disney” movies there.
CBS had already decided to postpone two of its four new, scripted shows until next season. Now ABC is doing the same to is lone new one: “High Potential” – with Kaitlin Olsen as a police-department cleaning lady who turns out to be a crime-solving whiz – will wait until next season. The schedule:
— Mondays (starting Jan. 22): “The Bachelor,” 8 p.m.; a “20/20” true-crime show involving love crimes, 10.
— Wednesdays (Feb. 7): “The Connors,” 8 p.m.; “Not Dead Yet,” 8:30; “Abbott Elementary,” 9; “Judge Steve Harvey,” 10. (Abbott will start with a one-hour episode; ABC hasn’t said what will happen to the 9:30 slot after that.)
— Sundays (Feb. 18): “American Idol,” 8 p.m.; “What Would You Do?” (ABC News production), 10.
— Thursdays (March 14): “9-1-1,” 8 p.m.; “Grey’s Anatomy,” 9; “Station 19,” 10.
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